Return of the Living (5)
by A.I.T. - Author In Training
Summary: Kairi has rejoined the world of the living and has decided to catch up with the trio in Brooklyn. But when an accidental warp is triggered, Kairi, Fred, and a new "friend" (who knows nothing of time warping) are warped back to renaissance Italy, just a few weeks after Kairi's death. Finding The Book won't be easy when you have to play dead.
1. Welcome to New York

**1. Welcome to New York**

"And that's game!" Fred grinned like he had just won the gold medal at the Olympics.

"Yes, Fred. You have proven for the hundredth time today that you are the champion of _flag_ football," Sam said as he stood up to dust himself off after just being tackled by Fred. He examined a bruise on his upper arm. "You don't think that's broken, do you?" He held it out for Joe to inspect.

Joe gently pushed Sam's arm away. "I think you'll live. And Fred, you do know there is no tackling in flag football right?" Joe, like Sam, was covered in grass stains and bruises from Fred's rough play style.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" He threw the football up in the air and caught it. "I didn't hit you guys that hard. Good thing you two aren't on a real football team. You'd never survive." He chuckled to himself.

"Speaking of _real_ football, don't you have practice in thirty minutes?"

"I was planning on being a little late today."

"Avoiding someone?" Sam teased.

"No." Fred looked down.

"Do you know how many guys would love to have a pretty cheerleader chase after them?"

"I know, but Sienna is just so-"

"Hey, Fred!" A singsong voice shouted.

Fred groaned. "Here we go."

A girl with bleach blonde hair bounced up to them. The sun reflected on her hair, making it look brighter and to see her you practically had to squint. The girl had dark gold eyes and deeply tanned skin that if you looked close enough, had an orange tint to it.

She spoke with a grating, honeyed voice, "I thought we could walk to school together since the cheerleaders have practice as the same time as the football team." She batted her long eyelashes at him. "It was _so_ hard to find you, but I figured you'd be off somewhere doing something sporty. Always the jock." She placed her hand on his shoulder and let out a high-pitched laugh. "I'm so glad I could get you before you left. Not that I'm surprised. I'm used to getting what I want." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and winked.

Fred shrugged her hand off. "Well, actually I-"

"Oh, come on, Fred. She came _all_ this way to find you," Joe snickered behind Fred.

"Yeah, Fred. She just wants to walk with you. You could at least give her that," Sam joined in.

Fred smirked. "Well, I was planning on heading over with Joe and Sam, but I guess you could join us, right guys?"

Joe and Sam's snickering stopped and they glared at him.

"Oh." Sienna looked down. "That's not exactly what I had in mind. You sure we can't go together? _Alone_?"

"I can't just bail on my friends like that." Fred threw his arms over Joe and Sam's shoulders. "These guys _really_ wanted to come watch the practice. Right, guys?"

"Fine." Sienna crossed her arms and glared at Sam and Joe as if this was their fault. She flashed Fred a quick, false smile and grabbed his hand. "Come on, we don't want to be late." Begrudgingly, Fred followed. He looked back to make sure Joe and Sam were coming too.

"Why did he have to drag us along?" Sam shuffled his feet behind Fred and Sienna, who were moving very quickly. "I have homework to do!" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Cade and I were supposed to meet up at the library soon."

"I have lessons with Uncle Joe in an hour. I can't go to this." Joe debated on how hard it would be to sneak away and if he was ethically okay with leaving his best friend alone with a questionably crazy girl. He decided he was. "So Sam, if we are really quiet, I think we-"

"Ow! Watch where you're going, freak!" Sienna shrieked and scowled at the female intruder. They had rounded a corner and slammed into each other.

"Sorry. I'm actually kind of new here. Maybe you could help me? I'm looking for an old friend of mine. A few friends actually. Well, 'friend' is a strong word. Acquaintance would probably fit better. Then again we didn't really have the best start and I may have technically kidna-"

"Please, shut up. We're in a hurry." Sienna shoved the girl away and kept marching along, pulling Fred with her. "So, as I was saying, I think the football team is looking great this year, especially you."

The girl Sienna had bumped into blinked her dark brown eyes as if trying to understand what just happened and what she did to make Sienna so upset with her. She ran a pale-skinned hand threw her natural looking light blonde hair that was styled in a short cut with lots of layers. She sighed as Joe and Sam crossed in front of her, trying to sneak away.

"Joe?"

Joe stopped to turn around and look at the girl. He studied her for a couple of seconds. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

Sienna and Fred had stopped and turned around. "Do you this _energetic_ girl?" Sienna scrutinized her.

"It's me, Kairi."

"Kairi?" Joe blinked in surprise. "You look different."

Kairi let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, it's a long story. You see-"

"Why don't you tell me later?" Joe stopped her before she could begin another Kairi-speech.

"Okay." She put on a wide grin. "So, where are you headed?"

"Fred's football practice," Joe said at the same time Sienna said, "None of your business."

"Um, Joe? I thought you and I were going to, you know, leave?" Sam spoke up.

Fred frowned. "Hey. Not fair."

"We can stay for a little bit, Sam."

"Not me. I told you, I'm meeting Cade at the library to do some homework."

"The school library?"

"Well, yes but-"

"Then you have to be there anyway. Come on. You want to join us, Kairi?"

Kairi perked up. "Definitely. I was looking for you actually. There's _so_ much I need to talk to you about, and not just about me. I'm sure you're eager to hear about a _certain someone_." Kairi gave him a teasing grin.

"Who?" Fred and Sam asked simultaneously.

"It's no one." But the look Joe gave Kairi said they would be talking more later.

Kairi smiled. "So, shouldn't we be heading to your school?"

Sienna crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "She can't come. She doesn't even go there. Practices are private."

"It'll be fine, Sienna. We need to hurry." Fred was glad to let another person join the group to help keep Sienna's wild flirting at bay.

Sam sighed. "Now that that's settled, I vote we actually get going. At this rate, I'll never get my homework done."

"You're more worried about missing Cade." Fred teased.

"I-" Sam sighed again. "Can we just get going?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, I'm back? If you're interested you can go check out my profile for a full explanation. But I'm happy to be writing again and I'd love to see what you guys think of this story so please leave a review! I know this is a low-action chapter, but I promise it picks up after this. I just needed this chapter to be a set-up for the rest of the story, which will be really short. By the way, this takes place after The Australian Secret and Crossing Worlds. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Here We Go

**2. Here We Go**

"Joe! What are doing?! You can't just pull that out in public!"

"Relax, Sam. I'm doing these lessons with Uncle Joe for a reason. He didn't give me time page status for nothing." Joe set _The Book_ aside and continued to rummage through his backpack.

"Even if you can control that thing, shouldn't we worry about other people seeing it?" Sam held up a hand and pointed at Kairi.

"Why? I know what _The Book_ is."

"You do?"

Kairi nodded enthusiastically. "Of course."

The three of them were sitting in the middle of the metal bleachers. Fred had finally convinced Sienna to step away, telling her they would both be late for practice if she didn't go. Sam was stuck waiting for Cade to arrive so they could study, while Joe was waiting for Sam to leave so Kairi could tell him everything he needed to hear about the past few months.

"How do you know about _The Book_ exactly? Isn't it supposed to be a secret? I thought only Fred, Joe, Joe's Uncles, and I knew about it."

"Well," Kairi began, not sure what to say for once. "I, um..." Kairi stopped, "That's not really important right now."

"But-" Sam started.

"Sorry, but _The Book_ isn't as secret as you think, and I think that's all I can say for now." Kairi gave him an uneasy smile.

Sam was about to protest again, but his phone beeped and interrupted him. He checked the screen. "Cade's here. I go to go." He stood up and glanced down at Kairi one last time, decided it wasn't worth the trouble to keep arguing, and turned to Joe instead. "Be careful with _The Book_, Joe. The last thing you want is to warp the entire football team to medieval Europe or something." He walked off to go meet up with Cade.

Joe pulled out his phone. "I need to call my uncle Joe to tell him I'll be late for lessons today. You can fill me in on everything when I get off the phone, right?"

Kairi grinned and nodded. "Of course."

Joe returned the smile. "Thanks. Watch my stuff. I'll be right back."

Kairi hummed quietly and thought about where to begin her story. She glimpsed down at _The Book_ and picked it up. Just as she opened it up to look at it further, she was interrupted.

"What are you doing?"

Kairi jumped and looked up to see who had spoken and sighed when she saw it was just Fred.

"Oh. I thought you were going to be somebody else. Can't have this little gem discovered, now can we?" She lifted _The Book_ and set it back down on her lap. She started to drum her fingers on the cover. "Can I help you? You're Fred, right?"

Fred nodded. "Why do you have _The Book_? And where's Joe? I don't think you're supposed to have that."

Kairi waved her hand dismissively. "Why does everyone think I can't handle this thing? It really isn't that hard to use. You just have to be careful and as long as you know what you're doing, you'll be fine." She studied Fred closer. He was still holding a football in his hands. "Aren't you supposed to be practicing?"

"We're on break. I came up here to yell at Joe for trying to abandon me with Sienna earlier." He crossed his arms.

"How bad can she really be?"

Fred blinked in surprise. "How bad? She's-"

"Oh, Fred!" Someone squealed behind him.

"Speak of the devil."

Sienna popped up next to Fred and flashed him one of her trademark flirty smiles. "Isn't it great that our mid-practice breaks line up with each other? Now we can hang out together even more." She leaned in closer. "And there's no one under the bleachers right now." She winked at him.

Fred immediately took a large step away from Sienna. "Ew."

"Excuse me?" Sienna looked more confused than anything, like she couldn't comprehend why anyone wouldn't want to spend some alone time with her.

"I mean, uh, no thanks. I have to get back to practice soon and," he looked around for an excuse, "and Kairi here was in the middle of telling me this great story."

Kairi and Sienna spoke at the same time, "What?"

Sienna pursed her lips and stared at Kairi. "I see, and just what was this 'great story'? I'd love to hear it."

"Um, I was just telling Fred about how I love this school, and that it's so weird to be here because I've never gone to school before. I, uh, was always home-schooled you see and-"

"Uh huh, that's nice." Sienna turned her attention back to Fred. "You sure I can't change your mind about the bleachers?" She walked her fingers up his arm.

Fred shuddered away. "Positive."

Sienna straightened up and scowled at Kairi, as if this was all her fault. She noticed The Book sitting on Kairi's lap. "What is that?" She reached for it.

"Nothing!" Fred jumped in front of Kairi to prevent Sienna from touching _The Book_.

"It certainly doesn't seem like nothing." She tried to reach around Fred to grab it, but to no avail. "_Come on_. Just let me see it. It's just some stupid book, right? Who cares? Those things are for nerds or losers who need to get a life." Sienna sighed and attempted to give Fred her best puppy-dog-eyes. "Please?"

"No." This time Kairi spoke. "I'm sorry, but this book doesn't belong to you. If Fred says you can't see it, then you can't see it."

Sienna's scowl depended. "How dare you." Sienna shouldered into Fred to get him to move, but all she succeeded in doing was knocking the football out of Fred's arms. Of course, it had to fall right onto _The Book_.

Fred groaned. "Oh no."

"What? It's fine. I don't see what the big deal is." Sienna crossed her arms and huffed. "Like I said, it's just some dumb book anyway."

"Not exactly."

Glowing green mist had begun to pour out of _The Book_ and slowly surrounded the three of them.

"What's going on? What is this stuff?" Sienna grabbed onto Fred for support and protection and tried to hide behind him.

"You're about to find out the hard way."

In a familiar bright flash of green, they were gone.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Thanks to everyone who's given me support thus far! Keep it coming please! Reviews and favourites are much appreciated! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Playing Dead

**3. ****Playing Dead**

Sienna moaned. "What just happened?" She sat up from where she had just fell on the ground. "Did the bleachers collapse or something?" She observed the room she was in. She was definitely not at the football practice field anymore. They were clearly in someone's old basement. Hay lay in the corner and old wooden crates were scattered around the room. Only one window was present, letting in a small amount of light. The wooden stairs leading up looked rotted and the door at the top was closed.

"Oh, no, no, no. Joe is not going to be happy about this." Fred was pacing back and forth with his hand cupping his chin, thinking hard. "Okay, Fred. You've warped lots of times. Just find _The Book_ and get home." He paused as he noticed Sienna staring at him, and not with her usual doe-eyed look. "And then explain why we have to send Sienna away."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Where are we?"

"_Where_ we are is not what you should be worried about."

"Italy. Ischia, Italy to be exact."

Both Sienna and Fred jumped. Kairi was leaning against a wall behind them with a concerned look on her face. There was a window next to her looking out at a semi-busy street. The buildings outside were packed together closely. Women walked around wearing long brightly coloured dresses with puffed sleeves and the men were wearing duller coloured robe-like shirts with tights.

"What's with all the fashion emergencies?" Sienna stepped up to the window. "That man is wearing too many colours, and he's mixing seasons." Sienna turned away. "Gross."

"You're more concerned with how they're dressing than how we ended up in some abandoned building, clearly not in New York anymore?" Fred was incredulous.

"Oh, I'm very interested in learning how we got here. So, somebody needs to start talking." Sienna tapped her foot impatiently and crossed her arms. "Well?"

Kairi and Fred exchanged glances, not sure what to do. Before they could respond, a creaking was heard from above.

"I don't think this house is abandoned."

"And they're probably not going to be happy about finding three strangers in their basement, but they could be nice people and not freak out. Then again, we aren't exactly dressed for the times."

"Dressed for the times? I'll have you know that these shoes are right off the Paris runway, thank you very much. They're Jimmy Choo's." Sienna proudly displayed her foot for Kairi and Fred to see.

"Are you sure those are authentic? I hear New York street vendors like to sell knock-offs. And I don't think that's the font that the Jimmy Choo logo is in."

Sienna threw her arms down. "Excuse me?" She was visibly shaking with anger.

Kairi genuinely meant no harm, but before she could defend herself, more creaking was heard from upstairs.

"Guys? I really think we should be leaving now." Fred lowered his voice and stepped towards the window. "I think that it's low enough for us to climb through."

"Climb through it? No thanks. I'm taking the stairs. Whoever owns this house can get over it."

"Sienna, wait! Don't!"

As soon as she stepped onto the stairs, the board loudly snapped. The creaking upstairs stopped.

"We need to move, now."

The three of them ran to the window and pushed it open. Kairi climbed out first and held her hand down to help Sienna up. Sienna simply smacked her hand away and started to climb up herself.

"Hello? Is someone down there?" The owner was standing at the top of the stairs. Luckily, they couldn't see the window from there.

"Oh no." Fred roughly pushed Sienna up the rest of the way and then climbed out himself.

The trio ran away from the house and down a nearby ally. They took a moment to catch their breath.

"That was too close. We're going to need to blend in if we don't want to get caught." Kairi peered around the corner to see what there was nearby. She squinted at a store sign in the distance. "Mancini's Shoppe?" Kairi blanched. "Uh oh."

"What is it? Did the owner track us down?" Fred looked around for another place to run to, but the ally they had chosen to hide in was a dead end.

"No, I just think we should really, really find some clothes to wear." Kairi touched her face. "But that may not be enough."

"Why?"

Kairi flashed a quick smile. "No reason. Now, come on. Let's go shopping!"

* * *

><p>"Hmm… Nope." Sienna threw yet another dress down, adding to the already huge pile.<p>

"Not to rush you or anything, but we really shouldn't waste too much time here." Kairi had already picked out a dark pink dress with pink and white striped shoulder puffs for herself. She had wrapped a matching scarf around her face. Even Fred had managed to find an outfit for himself already. Much to his dislike, Kairi had convinced him to dress like all the other men. So he was stuck wearing blue tights and green robe-like tunic.

"If I have to wear this awful stuff, I at least want to look good and stand out."

"But we're supposed to be blending in," Kairi pleaded.

"Don't care."

Kairi sighed and walked back to where Fred was waiting.

"Is the princess ready to go yet? The sooner we find The Book and get out of here, the sooner I can take this uncomfortable outfit off. I've had to dress up like a girl before and, it was better than this."

Kairi raised an eyebrow at him. "You dressed like a girl before?"

Fred blushed and looked down, not wanting to embarrass himself anymore in front of Kairi. "It was to help out a friend."

Kairi smiled at him. "That's really sweet of you."

Fred laughed. "Thanks, but it was definitely not my idea. I would have gone for the whole daring rescue thing, you know? Swoop in, fight the bad guys, save the girl, and ride away a hero."

Kairi giggled. "Sounds exciting."

"It would be amazing! But we never go with my ideas. Joe's usually the leader of our group and if he's not there, Sam's the smart one, so then he comes up with the plans."

"Well, I think you're ideas are great." Kairi grinned.

"Thank you." Fred returned the smile. It led to an awkward silence. "So," Fred cleared his throat, "why the rush to blend in? In any other warp I've done, we just stuck with our normal clothes. We got the occasional 'weird outfits' comment, but nothing too bad."

"It's just very important that I'm not recognized. I really shouldn't be here. I- I can't be here."

"Why not?"

"It's a long story."

Fred laughed and looked at Sienna, who was still scrounging the store for something to wear. "I think we've got plenty of time. Just start from the beginning."

"I think it would be better to start from the end actually."

Fred's face scrunched up and he looked at Kairi with confusion.

She sighed. "I used to live here. A long, long time ago. But then I died."

* * *

><p><strong>AN- I apologize in advance if my uploading is sporadic for the next few days. I'm going away for a vacation and I don't know how much time I'll have near a computer. Thanks for reading! A review and favourite would be very loved!**


	4. The Walking Living

**4. The Walking Living**

"You what?" Fred backed away, clearly concerned that Kairi was out of her mind.

"I'm serious. I swear!" Kairi took a step toward Fred. "I know it sounds too crazy to believe, but a magical, time traveling book brought us here. You have to be able to believe there are other magical things out there too."

Fred relaxed slightly. "I've never thought about it."

Kairi nodded. "Oh yes. There's all kinds of things out there!" She calmed down a little. "I just don't know if I should tell you about them all."

"What do you mean, you don't know? I want to hear all about these magical things. Are there more books out there? Or more universes? Could I be a real hero?" Fred had managed to get right up in Kairi's face during his interrogation.

"Um… it's not really up to me to decide. The gods are very particular about who can know what. I probably shouldn't even know as much as I do."

"Gods? There are gods? Like Zeus or Hades?"

Kairi clamped her mouth shut. She had said too much already.

"Oh, please. Tell me something!"

Kairi vigorously shook her head.

"At least explain to me what you meant when you said you used to live here but died. You couldn't have actually died. You wouldn't be here right now if you did, and when you said you used to live here, you meant like in the future right? Like, our present?"

"No." Kairi sounded very unsure of herself. "I meant that I used to live here, same time and everything. I'm not sure exactly when we are and I have to be careful that no one recognizes me considering I'm supposed to be dead."

"There's that 'dead' thing again. What are you talking about?"

"I mean dead. Like was not living." Kairi sighed. "There's a lot to explain about my life and the world I come from. The main point is, that I used to be dead, but was brought back by… someone. I can prove it too. My grave is just outside of town!" Kairi pointed down the street towards a less occupied area of land. "

"So, you're like a zombie?"

"No-"

"You're not going to eat my brains or anything, right? Because trust me, if you saw my grades, you'd know there's not a lot to eat." Fred spoke quickly, trying to protect himself.

"I'm not a zombie, and I'm not going to eat your brains, but I'm sure there's a lot more in there than you think."

"That's exactly what a zombie would say."

"Zombie?" Sienna had apparently finally found a dress that suited her and had rejoined Fred and Kairi. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing, just uh," Kairi looked down and noticed Sienna was still wearing her Jimmy Choo's. "You're going to need to change shoes too."

"No! These are staying with me."

"They just don't really go with the rest of your outfit."

Sienna huffed and stomped off back into the shop to look at shoes.

"She's not making this easy."

"She's not the type to live like a peasant." Fred eyed Kairi. "Now about this whole zombie thing..."

Kairi closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. "Let me explain. I was born Novella Ricci here in Ischia. The reason I know this must be sometime near my death is because I used to buy food from the old man who runs and owns Mancini's all the time. When I was about eleven I got the bubonic plague and died. Speaking of which, we should be extremely careful because people around here probably still have it and trust me, that's not something you want to go through. Anyway, when someone's death is special, in my case I was the first one to die from the plague, they aren't fully killed. They get a drastic change in appearance and get the ability to travel to the Land of the Dead. We basically become Death's little helpers, we're called Returners. We are sworn to protect Death and aid him whenever he wants us to."

"Death? Like the Grim Reaper? Guy who wears a black robe and has a bony hand, and if he touches you, you die? That Death?"

"Not exactly. The myths people have developed about him are far from the truth. He's still a scary guy though. Not someone you want to mess with." Kairi looked at the store to make sure Sienna was still occupied. "In certain circumstances, Death can reverse what he's done and bring one of his helpers back to life, like fully-living life. I was one of those special circumstances. So, here I am. Alive again."

Fred blinked. He tried to understand everything that was just said to him. "So… you're not a zombie?"

Kairi smirked. "I'm not a zombie."

"So, I still have a billion questions. Like, if you've died and seen Death in person, why are you such a happy person? No offense, but it seems like someone would come out of that really messed up in the head."

Kairi shrugged. "I guess I've just seen a lot of terrible stuff. I've learned you can never let anything get you down and if you stay positive, good things will happen for you in return. When you've seen all the bad, all that's left to see is the good." Kairi nodded towards Sienna. "I'm not that different from her. I'm still a preppy person who loves fashion, bright colours, princesses, and lots of other preppy things. I just-"

"Don't suck?"

Kairi laughed. "No. I just like them for different reasons I guess. I see them as beautiful and good things in the world. A new hair-do can change someone's life and make them feel better about themselves. A splash of pink on a black canvas can symbolize hope in the darkest times. A kind-hearted princess can save her whole kingdom from a monster if she tries hard enough and cares."

"You're a very interesting person, Novella."

Kairi looked at Fred, muddled. "Novella?"

"You said that was your birth name, right? I like it. It's unique, like you."

Kairi giggled. "I guess it is. When I died I had to change my name. I remember reading the name Kairi in a book once and I liked it. No one's called me Novella in thousands of years. I almost forgot it was my real name."

Fred was about to speak again, but Sienna interrupted, "Okay. I found some stupid shoes. Can we go now? I'd like to get home. The cheerleaders can't practice without me."

Fred scratched the back of his head. "We still have to look for _The Book_. We can't go home until we find it."

"The what? Never mind. Just find whatever it is and take me home!" Sienna stomped her foot. "This place is filthy and someone I saw looked like they had the plague or something."

Kairi and Fred both went wide-eyed. "Kairi? Do you have any idea where they would keep books around here?"

"There's one library, but it's really small. The only other place would be-" Kairi froze.

"Would be what?"

"The bookstore. Owned by," Kairi glanced at Sienna out of the corner of her eye, luckily she wasn't paying attention. She was too distracted by a coughing man on the side of the street. "Owned by my father."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - sorry for the update delay, but I was on vacation for NYE and then I had to take some time to deal with some personal stuff that I'm still kind of going through. Updates should be a little more regular now**.


	5. Breaking Up is Hard to Do

**5. ****Breaking Up is Hard to Do**

"What do we do then?" Fred gazed down the street to make sure no one was listening. A crowd had formed around the coughing man who had collapsed in the street. People were fearful of going near him.

"We hope that it's at the library." Kairi bit her lip, thinking.

"And if it's not?"

"We'll have to steal it from my dad." Kairi tapped her finger against her chin. "He used to close the shop around sundown and the only other way into the shop is from the house."

"Do you remember how to get through?"

"It's been a couple thousand years, but I think I got it." Kairi looked up at Fred and smiled.

"It may not even come to that. Let's just check out the library and see what we can find." Fred paused, clearly wanting to say more.

Kairi noticed. "What?"

"If we have to sneak into your old house. Can we do it all spy style? I have this perfect idea where we could sneak into a back window and then we'd knock every out, but place them on their beds so they think they just fell asleep. Then we'd creep into the store all spy-like and grab _The Book_. We go out the same window we came from a minute after we came in. Then poof, we're home for dinner."

Kairi chuckled. "We can try. Minus the knocking out my family part though."

Fred grinned. "Really? That's-"

"Can we go yet?" Sienna had lost interest in the dying man. "This place is grossing me out. And no one has even explained to me how we ended up here yet!"

"Later. We're going to go on a mission and climb through windows and-"

"I am _not_ climbing through another window. My legs are still scratched up from the first one we went through." Sienna looked at Kairi. "Why don't you do all that nasty work, you look like you've been doing dirty work all your life anyway, and Fred and I will stay behind, find some nice café, and have a cute little date."

"A what? I don't remember agreeing to that."

"Don't act like you don't want it." Sienna batted her eyelashes at him and tried to lean into him, but Fred had stepped away.

"I _don't _want it. I want to go on this fun mission. Windows and all!"

"You what? Come on, Fred, baby." Sienna put a hand on his cheek. "That's crazy talk. This weird chic is obviously getting to your head. We can't have you climbing through windows and ruining that perfect face of yours, now can we?"

"I happen to think this 'weird chic' is cool, and she hasn't done anything to me. This was my idea."

"Well then. I don't know that I can be with someone like you. Someone who clearly doesn't know greatness when he sees it." She gestured to herself. "Someone who thinks he lives in an action movie and wants to go on stupid missions." Sienna sighed and looked at Fred. "I hate to do this, but I think we need to break up."

"We were never together."

"I know this is hard for you. Trust me, it won't be easy for me either, but it's for the best. We'll get through this. Of course we can still be friends."

"I'd rather not be."

Sienna looked touched and placed a hand over her heart. "Would it trouble you to see my face that much? You know, if you apologize, I might consider taking you back."

"I'm good. How about you just wait here while Kairi and I go on our 'stupid' mission?"

"Fine, if that's how it must be. I'm sure she'll be okay with being your rebound girl. At least remember this Fred: I will always love you."

"Great, gotta go!" Fred pulled Kairi away and down the street. "I have no idea how that just happened, but I am so glad it did. You have no idea how long she has been stalking me."

"We just walked past the library."

"Oh." Fred stopped. He was so happy about his new freedom that he didn't even realize he had gone too far. They turned back and walked inside.

The library was fairly small. Only one floor and five rows of shelves. Colourful books lined the walls and a frail, old lady stood behind a counter near the front.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Fred stepped up. "We're looking for a blue book with silver squiggles all over it. It's about this big." He held up his hands.

"Hmm… Who is it by? Our books are organized by author last name, and all anonymous books are on that back shelf over there." She pointed to the shelf in the very back of the store.

"We'll start there."

Kairi had kept hidden during the whole exchange and quietly followed Fred to the back of the store.

"Mrs. Bruno was always so helpful. I didn't realize how much I missed this little town and all its people."

"There doesn't seem to be anything here."

"Oh there's lots in Ischia. The whole town is just recovering from a volcanic eruption that happened a few years ago. And this," Kairi grabbed a book off the shelf, "is a book about the history of Ischia in ancient times. We have beautiful gardens and the beaches are luxurious. It's a little hard to live on an island sometimes, but I think it was worth it."

"That's a nice little speech and all, but I meant there doesn't seem to be anything on the shelf. I don't see _The Book_ anywhere."

"Oh, well, might as well check out the rest of the shelves."

Kairi and Fred searched the library until they had scanned all the shelves. Mrs. Bruno had even left her desk to come help with the search. In the end, they had no luck and had to leave the library. By the time they got out, the sun was setting.

"Well, that was a bust. Guess that it's breaking and entering after all." Fred put his hands behind his head. "I'm excited to put one of my plans into action." He looked down at Kairi, who appeared nervous. "You okay?"

"I haven't been home in so long. What if my family sees me? It's not just my dad we have to worry about. I have a little half-brother and step-mother too. Maybe you should go in alone."

"Nonsense. You can do this. Besides, I can't be a hero with a girl to be my damsel. A hero always has a cute girl to fight for."

Kairi perked up. "Cute?"

Fred blushed. "Never mind that." He looked away. "Let's just go get that book."

"I haven't been this nervous since I had to kidnap you and your friends a few months ago." Kairi put a hand over her mouth. "Oops."

"Kidnap?" Fred looked closer at her face. "You don't look like either of the girls who kidnapped us."

"I was still dead then, but it _was _me. I'm so sorry, but you all turned out okay! Right? It just needed to be done to help my friend with this thing and fulfill this prophecy and-"

"Prophecy? I'm starting to think you're crazy again."

"There are tons of prophecies. You have to be believe me. What if one of them is about you? You know who gets prophecies? Heroes. Heroes get prophecies."

Fred paused. "You really think there's a prophecy about me out there?"

"It's possible."

Fred beamed. "Well, then. Let's do this."


	6. Home Sweet Home

**6. Home Sweet Home**

The sun was setting over the horizon. It cast a beautiful orange glow over Ischia. The citizens were calming down for the day and heading into their homes. Fred and Kairi were huddled together in an alley outside of Kairi's old home. They were waiting for her father to lock up his shop for the night.

"So where do we go in at?" Fred asked, scanning the house for possible entrances.

"My bedroom. Hopefully, they haven't been in there since I died and it should be empty. We'll have to climb up on some vines though. Luckily, my window never locked, so climbing through shouldn't be an issue."

Fred grinned at the potential for action. "_Sweet_."

A figure appeared in the doorway into the book store. They looked around to make sure no more customers were coming. The door shut and the lights in the shop flicked off.

"Ready?"

"So ready." Fred leapt out from the alley. "Let's go steal this thing." A few people who were late getting home glanced at Fred, curious about his sudden outburst.

"Um, I think we're going to need to be a little quieter if we want to get away with this."

"Right. Sorry."

Kairi smiled. "Come on. It's this way." Kairi led Fred to a back part of her house. Luscious green vines wound their way up to the top of the house. A perfect way to get into Kairi's childhood bedroom.

Fred looked up at the task. "Okay. You get close and I'll help push you up. If you need any help, I'll-" But Kairi had already started climbing. She was half-way up before Fred was done.

"You coming?"

Fred beamed. "I'll be right up." He started to climb, but slipped back down. "This is harder than I thought."

"Need help?" Kairi was looking down at him from her window. She was already inside.

Fred suppressed the urge to stick his tongue out at her. "No. I'm just warming up." It took a couple tries, but Fred eventually made it up. He was greeted by a giggling Kairi. He smiled at her laughs. "Yeah, yeah. It's a lot harder than it looks." He studied her. "How are you so good at that?"

Kairi shrugged. "When I died, I had to take on a new identity. So I had to steal a lot of stuff to blend in. I always paid them back I could, secretly of course. Sneaking into places was just part of the dead life."

"So, you're like a girl version of Bear Grylls?"

"Who? I mean, I'm not like, superior at surviving or anything. I know plenty of people who are better at this stuff than me. Some people I know have been training for survival for most of their lives. I just did the basics, especially since it wasn't like I could die again or something. I never needed to eat or drink either. Which is kind of weird if you think about it. When I had food for the first time after I came back to life, it was amazing! Modern food is so much better than renaissance food." Kairi stopped. "Sorry. I talk a lot sometimes."

"Don't be." Fred smirked. "You're actually interesting to listen to, unlike most girls."

They stared at each other for a few moments until Kairi cleared her throat. "I think it's time to get moving."

"Oh, right." Fred blinked. "Where to next?"

Kairi nodded towards the door. "Through there and then down the stairs immediately to the left. Once we reach the bottom, we'll have to sneak through the kitchen to get to the hallway that leads into the shop. After that it's simple, find _The Book_ and back out the way we came. All in less than a minute, right?" Kairi teased him.

Fred nodded. "Right." Fred walked towards the door with Kairi following closely behind.

Kairi tripped over something and crashed into Fred. "Ow!" They both exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I-" She froze.

"What's wrong?" Fred noticed how dramatically Kairi's attitude had changed.

Kairi sat down on the floor next to what she had tripped on. "I almost forgot." Next to her was a slightly popped up floor board. Kairi pulled at it until it lifted all the way off. She reached inside to pull out a very small, simple box. When she opened it, a lime green journal was revealed. It had the symbol of an hourglass engraved on the front.

Kairi traced her hand over the symbol. "This was my mother's. It was all I had left of her after she went away."

"I'm sorry. I've never had a parent die, but it has to be terrible." Fred awkwardly waited behind Kairi.

Kairi shook her head. "She's not dead. She's very much alive."

"Is she like you? Like dead and then not-dead?"

"No. My mom is… special. After my dad found out about her specialness he kicked her out and refused to let her see me again because he thought she'd hurt me. I grew up thinking she was dead, it wasn't until a few months ago I even knew she alive and never wanted to leave me." Kairi held up the journal. "This was the diary she kept while she was with my father." She opened it up and skimmed through the pages. It was evident that plenty of pages had been torn out. "This was how my dad found out about her. He ripped out all the pages that mentioned what she was and then hid this in the basement. I found it and hid it in my room. I used to read it all the time."

"Special how?" Fred leaned in, curious.

Kairi offered him a half-smile. "Another time." Kairi pursed her lips. She stood up and tucked the diary in her waistband. She looked around her room, like she was just now realizing where she was. "I haven't been here in so long. It's so weird being back again, even if it is just for a little." Kairi looked down. "When my dad remarried and had another kid this room became my safe haven. I will always love my father, but he has terrible taste in second-wives." Kairi crossed her arms and sighed. She glanced at Fred, suddenly remembering that he was there. "But we have a book to get don't we?"

Fred smiled and nodded.

"Lead the way then, hero." Kairi gestured towards the door.

Fred had to pin down his desire to jump with joy. Finally, one of his plans in action.

The duo moved quietly out the door. Voices could be heard from below. The stairs were creaky and they had to stop every two seconds to make sure the voices hadn't stopped. They reached the bottom and leaned flat against the wall to avoid the soft light pouring in from the kitchen. The short hallway to shop was just on the other side, but they would have to cut through the kitchen to get to it. Unfortunately for them, Kairi's family was having dinner.

"What do we do now?" Fred whispered to Kairi.

"You tell me. You can do this. Just think. How would an epic adventurer get through here unseen?"

Fred bit his lip and thought about all the video games he'd played and all the action movies he'd seen. The idea hit him like a bullet in the head. "Stay low and stay quiet. Where's you main room?"

Kairi pointed down the hall. "What do you have in mind?"

Fred smirked. "You'll see."

The two snuck down the hall away from the kitchen. The main room was sparse, little furniture and only two paintings hanging on the walls. Fred looked around. He spotted a small, round table in the corner. He quickly walked up to it and picked it up to test its weight. It was light enough that he could easily pick it up. He looked behind him at the window.

Kairi saw what was coming before she could stop it. "Fred, don't!"

But it was too late. Fred slammed the table into the window. Glass flew everywhere.

"What are you doing? They're going to come running in here now!" Kairi was finding it hard to keep whispering.

"Exactly." He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a closet they had passed on the way down. Fred cracked the door open to watch when Kairi's family would run by.

Footsteps came thudding down the hallway and into the living room.

"Run." Fred pushed Kairi out and they made a break for the kitchen.

A young boy was still sitting at the dining table. "Hey!" He stood up and yelled.

Fred and Kairi jumped into the shop before the boy could stop them.

"Stupid Marco. Of course he'd be the one to ruin this. Little brothers are the worst."

"I'm the youngest of four."

Kairi looked at him and quickly defended herself. "Not all little brothers are bad. Some are great, amazing even! It's just, you know, when you're the oldest sibling and you have this annoying little kid in your life, that you also love, it gets frustrating sometimes."

Voices returned to the kitchen. Fred and Kairi heard a distinct, "They went that way!"

Kairi looked around for a way to block the door. She pointed to chair in the corner behind Fred. "There!"

Fred shoved it under the doorknob just in time. A loud banging immediately followed.

"I don't know who you are, but you better get out of there before I call someone!"

"We need to hurry." The two rapidly got to work looking for _The Book_.

"I don't see it anywhere!"

"Keep looking!"

The lights flashed on and they were forced to squint their eyes at the sudden brightness.

"Looking for this?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Sorry for the delayed update again (and this long A/N). School is now back in session and I have a max credit schedule. I'm still writing though, so don't worry, but sometimes school just sucks it out of you and you lose your inspiration to write. So I think I'm going to open up requests. The more I write, the more I'm going to get really into it. So PM me if you're interested in a request fanfic. I probably won't post them on here. They'll probably go up on DevArt, but we'll see. Anyway, I'd also love some critiquing reviews because there's always room for improvement. A favourite and a review would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Caught in the Act

**7. Caught in the Act**

"What even is this thing anyways?" A sparkly pink manicured hand carelessly held _The Book_. "This is the same stupid thing that you wouldn't let me see earlier. It's just some book, and I know you're not the nerd type, Fred." Sienna tossed _The Book_ onto the counter.

Fred and Kairi both jumped. "Be careful with that!"

Sienna raised an eyebrow at them. "Why?"

"It's just an… important book." Kairi spoke while Fred dumbly nodded next to her.

Sienna shrugged. "Whatever." There was more banging on the door. Someone was still clearly trying to get in. "What is that?" Sienna went for the door.

"No!" Fred and Kairi yelled.

Sienna gave them both a wide-eyed look. "What the heck is going on here?"

They simultaneously looked at the door as the banging persisted. "We're not supposed to be here. We had to sneak in and-" Fred froze. "Wait, how did you get in here?"

"The front door." Sienna pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at the now open entrance to the shop. "It wasn't even locked."

Fred looked at Kairi, who simply shrugged in response. "He must have forgotten to lock it." Kairi glanced at _The Book_, still resting on the counter behind Sienna. "But now we have _The Book_, so let's get home."

Sienna snatched _The Book_ before Fred and Kairi could even take a step towards it. "Oh no you don't."

"Sienna, what are you doing?"

Sienna squinted her eyes at Kairi. "I don't trust her."

"Well, I do. Now hand that 'stupid thing' over, and we can all go home." Fred held his hands up as if he were dealing with a hostage situation.

"I heard you two earlier, you know. I knew this girl was crazy. I mean, look at what she's wearing!"

"What's wrong with-"

"She thinks she died and then came back to life, Fred! And you believed her! She needs to be in a mental hospital!"

"We can explain it all, Sienna. Just quiet down." Fred looked behind him at the kitchen door. The banging had stopped, presumably so the knocker could go get help.

"Explain what? How she escaped from the loony bin? No thanks. And don't try to tell me this is a dream." She paused to rub a red spot on her arm where it looked like she had been pinched. "Figured that out already." She glared at Kairi. "I found a cop. He'll be here at any minute to take her away."

"You did what?!" Kairi and Fred looked at each other and then back at The _Book_ still in Sienna's hands.

"She's clearly insane, and it's spreading to you, Freddy." Sienna looked at him sympathetically. "I'm just trying to help."

"Freddy?" Fred scrunched up his face with disgust.

"Listen Sienna, no one here is crazy." Kairi bit back the urge to say "_except you_." She shook her head to clear it. "We will explain everything, just give us that book in your hands. If we don't get it back, we'll be stuck here for a very long time."

"Don't care." Sienna crossed her arms and looked away. "In fact, I think I'm just going to get rid of this permanently." She stepped back and looked at a torch hanging by the entrance.

"No!" Fred ran forward and straight into Sienna. She squealed and dropped _The Book_ onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around her. "I know this girl is crazy. I knew it the moment she started talking dying and zombies. Do you really think I'm that dumb that I would believe something like that?"

"Of course not." Sienna wrapped her arms around Fred in return. "I knew you were still my same old Freddy."

"Seriously, when did you start calling me Freddy?"

Kairi remained silent, hurt written all over her face. She couldn't even look at Fred. She closed her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping.

"I'm so glad you feel this way, because I think I see the cop coming." Sienna pointed down the road. At two dark figures approaching the shop.

Fred could pick up snippets of their conversation. "They just broke in! They're in my shop now."

"Uh oh."

"What?"

"Nothing! Let's go meet them and inform them of what's going on. _I hope no one picks up _The Book_ while we're gone_." Fred spoke pointedly at Kairi, who still wasn't looking their way. He frowned. "_It would be awful if someone grabbed it and tried to warp us out of here_."

"Then why don't we just take it with us?" Sienna reached down for _The Book_.

"No time!" Fred whisked Sienna away, hoping Kairi would pick up on his very obvious hints.

Kairi barely registered his words. She looked up after the two had left and sniffled. She saw _The Book_ lying on the ground still. "_Oh_." Kairi rushed to it and grabbed it. She rapidly flipped through the pages. "How does this thing work?" She kept looking until she found the transporter page. "I think this will work." She bit her lip uncertainly. Kairi noticed that Fred and Sienna were slowly working their way back to the store with two tall people coming with them. She recognized her father's outline immediately. "Oh no. Let's hope this works." She scanned the page and saw a button labeled "return". "That should do it." She stood back into the shop to await their arrival.

"There she is officer!" Sienna pointed a sharp finger at Kairi. "The crazy one I told you about! And look, she's even stolen one the books!"

"Showtime." Kairi readied her finger and pressed down on the return button.

Nothing happened.

"What?"

"Well, wait are you waiting for? Arrest her! I told she must have the plague or something! She's delirious."

The cop made a move towards Kairi. Kairi managed to slip away. Fred managed to squeeze his way to the front of the crowd.

"What are you waiting for? Take us home!"

"I'm trying, but it's not working!" Kairi repeatedly pressed down on the button. "Nothing's happening!"

"Maybe it's broken. Try hitting it on something!"

"What?" Kairi dodged the cop's hands again.

"What are you doing? Just get her already!" Sienna stamped her foot impatiently.

"Fred, I think we need to get out of here!" Kairi ran to the front of the store and pushed Sienna out of the way. Fred followed suit.

"Fred! Where are you going?" Sienna ran after the two of them.

In the process of running out of the shop, Kairi had caused the officer to knock over a shelf of books. "Sorry, sir." The cop looked down at the mess he had made.

Kairi's father didn't respond. He had been distracted by something much more worrying. "Novella?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Only two more chapters left! Thanks for the support on this story guys. Glad to see the TWT Revival going strong! As a side note, I've decided to keep the writing request thing open indefinitely. So, if you would like to have me write up a short story for you, just PM me.**

**A favourite and a critiquing review would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!**


	8. Grave Sweet Grave

**8. ****Grave Sweet Grave**

"Where are we running to?" Fred ran next to Kairi.

"Just away! We have to get _The Book_ working and we weren't going to be able to figure out how to do that there." She looked behind her to see who was still following them. All she could see was Sienna, but she assumed the officer and her father wouldn't be far behind.

They reached the outside of town quickly and ran into an unlit field. Small stones were scattered around. A lone tree stood in the corner by a weak-looking fence.

"We should be fine here for a few minutes. They'll come after us eventually."

"Fred! What were you thinking?" Sienna had caught up to them. "I know you want to play hero, but you should let the cop do his job. You didn't need to run after _her_ yourself." She said her in a very disgusted way, as if she couldn't even attempt to say Kairi's actual name.

"I wasn't trying to stop her. I'm trying to help her."

"You're what? But she's crazy. You said so yourself!"

"I was lying."

"Really?" Sienna and Kairi spoke at the same time. Kairi had a look of hope on her face, while Sienna looked outraged.

"Of course." Fred stared at Kairi straight on. "Kairi is one the most amazing girls I've ever met. She actually lets me go on my wild adventures and will even help me with them."

Kairi couldn't contain her smile.

"Well, if that's how you feel, I'll just have to check you both into the insane asylum."

Fred shook his head. "You're too late. We're going home." He reached to take _The Book_ from Kairi, but Sienna beat him to it.

"No!"

Kairi held onto _The Book_ as tightly as she could. The girls were caught in a struggle neither of them wanted to lose.

"Stay right where you are, thief!"

"Guess they caught up with us." Fred managed to take his eyes off of the battle going on in front of him. He was hoping the girls wouldn't tear _The Book_ in two. "Um, guys?"

"Not to sound rude, but, you know, you could help." Kairi clenched her teeth together.

"We have another issue."

"Drop that book!" The cop slowly stalked up to them.

Neither girl let go. They persisted to tug _The Book_ back and forth between them.

Kairi caught the eye of her father slowly coming up behind the officer. She freaked and let go of _The Book_ to hide her face. Sienna wasn't expecting her to let go. She was still pulling and when Kairi let go she had fallen and hit her head. She lay on the ground, not moving. _The Book_ was on the ground next to her.

"Great." Fred had a mixture of joy and worry at Sienna's fall. He peered closer at what she had hit her head on. 'Um, Kairi?"

"Yes?" She was still covering her face.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, but we're kind of in a graveyard."

"And?" Kairi dropped her hands and noticed what Fred was staring at. "Oh."

A short tombstone rose above the ground. Engraved on the top was a cross and below it were words written in a fancy script:

_Novella Cara Ricci_

_October 31, 1336_

_March 18, 1347_

_A lovely daughter, friend,_

_And special girl_

"Halloween birthday, huh?"

"It wasn't really Halloween back then."

"This is my last warning. Hand over that book. If you cooperate, you're sentencing will be less."

"Oh right, him."

Kairi swiftly picked up _The Book_ and handed it to Fred. "Maybe you can get it to work."

"Me?"

"Officer, wait! I want to get a better look at them!" Kairi's father had finally reached the scene.

Kairi's face paled. "Hurry, please!"

"But I-"

"Novella? I must be seeing things. Is it really you?"

Kairi jumped and hid behind Fred. "I don't know who you're talking about, sir!" Kairi elbowed Fred to get him to hurry up.

Unfortunately, all she succeeded in doing was knocking _The Book_ out of Fred's hands. It hit Kairi's gravestone and landed back next to Sienna, who was sill lying unconscious on the ground.

"Novella!" Fred turned to Kairi, not realizing what he had just called her.

"Fred!" Kairi had a panicked expression on her face.

"It is you! Why have you come back, spirit?" Kairi's father dropped to his knees in awe. The officer stepped back in confusion. He had been told only one person here was crazy.

"Sorry." Fred sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

Kairi tried to glare at him, but she was immediately distracted by something else. "It worked!" Kairi wrapped up Fred in a tight hug. She giggled. "You got it to work!"

"I what?" Fred looked down at _The Book_. A familiar green mist was slowly filling the air. "Oh, yea. I knew that would work." Fred put on a cocky grin.

Kairi let go of him. She smiled widely. "I knew you could do it." She winked at him. "Just like a hero would."

"Are you leaving already, great spirit?" Kairi's father was still on his knees. He looked confused.

"Um," Kairi cleared her throat and put on a fake ghost-like voice. "Yes. I must return to the land from whence I came now. It was a pleasure to see my homeland again. I have missed you, father. Before I leave, I must tell you, my death was untimely, but I loved you and you should not be distraught. I have found peace." Kairi looked at Fred and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I am okay now. The afterlife is not so bad."

The magical fog had completely surrounded them.

"Goodbye, father."

"Goodbye, Novella."

And with that, _The Book_ sucked them back to twenty-first century Brooklyn.

* * *

><p>"Ow!" Kairi had landed on top of Fred. They looked like rag dolls who had been haphazardly thrown down on the bleachers.<p>

Kairi groaned and rolled off of Fred. "Sorry."

Sienna moaned next to them, but remained unmoving. _The Book_ had returned itself to Joe's backpack.

Kairi managed to sit up. "At least we made it back."

Fred crawled up next to her and sat down heavily. "Yeah."

Sienna struggled to get up. "What happened?" She rubbed her head. "I feel like someone shoved me into a wall." She looked up and blinked. As her world came into focus, she recognized Kairi and sneered. "_You_. I don't know how, but you're responsible for this. Don't think I've forgotten how crazy you are."

"What are you talking about?" Kairi feigned innocence. "The three of us were having a nice conversation. The heat must have gotten to you or something, because you feinted. Fred and I have been sitting here, waiting for you to wake up."

Fred nodded. "We were really concerned. You were mumbling the weirdest things in your sleep. Something about zombies?" Fred looked at Kairi for confirmation.

"Oh, yes. It was the strangest thing. You must have been having the craziest dream."

"It wasn't a dream! I remember we were in some gross town and we had to wear these ugly outfits and… and… was it really a dream?" Sienna's anger had diminished to bewilderment. "It couldn't have been."

"Sounds like a dream to me. Don't you think so too, Fred?"

"Definitely."

"There you are, Sienna!" Another cheerleader bounced up to them. "We were looking all over for you. Coach says break is over." She noticed Fred and Kairi sitting there as well and registered that all three looked like they had just tumbled down a hill. "What happened to you?"

Sienna spoke up. "Just exhausted." She quickly readjusted her hair into a ponytail and hopped back onto her feet. "But I'm ready for practice."

"Are you sure? You look-"

"I said I'm fine, okay? Let's just get going already. These weirdos have been doing nothing but staring at me. Not that I can't see why." She toyed with her hair and put on a smug smile.

"_Right_." The new girl analyzed Kairi. "Do you even go here? I've never seen you before. You're not a cheerleading from another school, are you? Coach doesn't want anyone to try to steal our routines before competition season starts."

Kairi shook her head. "I've never cheered before actually."

"Really? Because you really look like a cheerleader. You know, coach did say we could use another member."

Kairi perked up. "Really?"

"No." Sienna crossed her arms. "Not her. She would only hinder us."

"Sienna it's not really your choice." The cheerleader looked back at Kairi. "Tell you what, I'll go up to coach after practice and talk to her for you. Cool? You do go here, right?"

"Not officially, but I was thinking about enrolling here."

"Well, I hope to see you around."

Sienna gave Kairi one last glare, convinced she was trying to destroy her life. The cheerleader and Sienna walked away, leaving Fred and Kairi alone.

"That was close. I was worried she wasn't going to believe us."

"Yeah. Can't have random people knowing about time travel."

They sat there in silence for a minute.

Fred shook his head and scoffed. "I can't believe she tried to pass you off as crazy. She's the crazy one."

"She's determined, I'll give her that. I'm surprised she even found a cop. Ischia's crime rate is like zero. We don't need officers there. People don't even lock their doors. Everyone there trusts each other."

"No one locks their doors?"

"Oh yeah, houses, shops, even-" Kairi froze. "I mean, um, oops." She blushed.

"You knew your dad wasn't going to lock the door to his shop, didn't you?" Kairi nodded and Fred looked away. "Thanks."

Kairi sat up. "For what? I lied to you. I made you sneak in through my window when we could have just walked into the store."

"But you lied because you wanted to be nice and go on an adventure with me. You let me lead the way and come up with the plans. So thanks. I mean it." Fred gave her a hug, which Kairi gladly returned.

"What's going on with you two?"

Fred and Kairi flew apart, blushing. Joe had apparently finished his phone call with his uncle and had returned. He stood in front of them, crossing his arms and looking back and forth between the two with a teasing grin on his face.

"Um…" Neither of them spoke.

"I don't really want to know." Joe waved his hands as if pushing the conversation away. "Don't you need to be getting back to practice, Fred?"

"In a minute. I've still got time." Fred looked at Kairi. "Were you serious about enrolling here?"

Joe stood back. "You're going to school here now?"

Kairi grinned. "Well, I was planning on moving to Brooklyn, and I figured I'd need to go to school somewhere. So why not here?"

"That's great!" Fred beamed as a whistle blew in the distance. "Guess that means my break is over. I'll see you guys later. I'm going to be hungry enough to eat three pizzas from Ray's after practice.

"You're always hungry enough to eat three Ray's pizzas." Joe called after him. He shook his head and sat down next to Kairi. "So I changed my mind, I do want to know. What happened to you two? I was gone for like ten minutes."

"We may have accidentally time warped."

Joe shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? Fred has a tendency to cause warps."

"Actually, it was Sienna's fault."

"Sienna went too? She doesn't even know about time travel or _The Book_." Joe sighed. "This seems like a bigger story than you're letting on. You can tell me everything later. But I think there was something else you needed to talked to me about." Joe gave her a hopeful look.

Kairi grinned. "Of course."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - So I lied. This will be the last chapter. It was going to be two, but they were both short so I just combined them into one. I could've posted this yesterday, but it was my birthday and I chose to have a lazy do-nothing day for the most part. Thanks to everyone who has supported this story and the TWT revival in general. The story that takes place after this is The War of Time (already posted, check it out please). I'll probably be posting a few short stories and one-shots after this until my next full story is ready to be posted which will be Sour Revenge. Look at my profile for any updates. If you enjoyed this story, please look at my other fanfics. A favourite and review would be much loved. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
